Help deciding on a board

02-24-2012, 10:55 AM

Chris,
So my brother is going in for heart surgery in a couple weeks (they found multiple holes in it) and we want to get him a board to stoke him out before he goes in. So here's the dilema. I am thinkng about getting him the potatonator or the dominator. He's an upper beginner to low intermediate surfer. His board right now his holding him back right now for sure.not enough volume.. its a 6'4 flyer.. i think the volume is around 36L
he will definitely benefit from a hybrid type shape. so he's about 200lbs maybe 205ish he wants to get down to 195. he's really fit and is 5'11 in height and was thinking about either a 6'2 nator or a a 6'4 dominator.
we are on the ec usa and he doesn't go out in anything above head high. this will be his only board in his quiver bc the flyer will prob. be sold then. it says in the description the potato-nator can handle 3-5ft and also go great in the low range as well.. that sounds like a perfect board for him.. it also has more volume then the 6'4 dom.
so what do you think? and when will the potato-nator be available in FST here on the ec? probably have to order and wait 12 weeks? i would just show him a pic of it thats the case...
Thank you so much for your help! He's crazy nervous about the procedure.

As far as which board is best, its a tough call. The Potatonator is great, fun and fast but I actually think its likely a board for intermediate surfers or better because it has a relatively wide tail. because of this, it takes a little bit of extra technical ability to get it to work well.

In my honest opinion, I think the Dominator is an easier board to surf. Not necessarily to catch waves and go fast, but to surf, so i think your brother will develop better on it. It doesn't have the "extreme shape" influence of the potato which can be seen in the 'Nator's tails. I think a budding intermediate surfer might be a bit better off on a plus sized dominator. For your bro, depending on how long he is out of the water, my suggestion would be a 604 or 606 Dominator....

All that being said, the potatonator does paddle great and get into surf, it just has less traditional shape which sometimes is better to extend a quiver versus being an ONLy board.

let me know what you think

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thanks for the quick reply.. i'll go with the dominator then.. deciding on which size to go with.. i found the volume for his board at 35.4 which is wow extremely low for him.. he can catch a wave here and there on it but only if he's in the perfect spot like i said he struggles. i want to get him a board that will progress with him bc this might be the last board he gets for a while (doubt wife will allow another purchase) but at the same time don't want to get him another one that he will struggle on.. the 6'4 has 41.5 and the 6'6 has 45.1.. he surfs when he can being that he has two lil girls at home and i want his sessions to be more importantly fun when he does go..

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i'm thinking 6'4 i just asked him and he wants to get down to 190 after the surgery... weighing his food and all that crazy stuff.. so you think the 6'4 will be a board he'll progress on? the 6'6 i'm almost thinking might be perfect for him right now but if he progesses might outgrow in a hurry.. thoughts?

i don't think the 606 is a bad call. is his surgery being done arthroscopically? if his recovery time isn't going to lay him up for a while then the 604 could be good. If he has a while where he has to be mellow, then go 606 all the way. I am off the opinion that extra volume at the outset leads to faster development. Faster development is GOOD and you can always sell and downsize....

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Nah not desperate Chris. Hopefully only a week or so to wait now anyway. Once I get hold of it if I'm not sure about the Nanotech stuff I'll shoot you a message with the serial but I'm sure I'll be able to tell just by dripping some water on it?